<p>I’ve never been overweight or obese and have never had to diet or try to maintain a healthy weight. I have a laundry list of tips:</p>
<ul>
<li>Always carry a reusable water bottle with you and keep it full of cold water.</li>
<li>Make sure you’re fulfilling your protein and fiber requirements (they help you feel full) </li>
<li>STOP eating whenever you are full. Never gorge - -put leftovers in a container for later. </li>
<li>Only enjoy sweets and “junk foods” you absolutely love. Try to cut out as many as possible, but do enjoy your absolute favorites in moderation. </li>
<li>Ride your bike to work (if possible) some places even offer insurance discounts if you take your bike to work. </li>
<li>Take the stairs instead of the elevator (if possible)</li>
<li>Eat fruit instead of drinking fruit juice. </li>
<li>If you’re a boredom eater, find some hobbies to keep busy.</li>
<li>Make use of free resources like [url=<a href=“http://www.choosemyplate.gov/]ChooseMyPlate.gov[/url”>http://www.choosemyplate.gov/]ChooseMyPlate.gov[/url</a>]</li>
<li>Workout with others or join a workout class. If you have scheduled workout sessions or classes with others, it will be a lot more difficult to skip workouts or quit.</li>
</ul>
<p>Excellent tips, lilac butterfly – I try to remember sometimes --* live and eat like a skinny person* (or at least a less heavy one, LOL) – off to Weight Watchers in a few . . . I may not be able to get to the gym today, but I can still fit a walk in, I think . . .</p>
<p>Runners mom- tag you back. We can help each other. Breakfast and lunch down. Pathetic but 10 counter pushups and some planks done. H wants to start walking in the evenings after dinner. I get lazy but I am going to take him up on it. I will head out now for a short walk. A beginning.
I have a lunch date tomorrow and Friday.</p>
<p>I could be the poster girl for being accountable to this thread on a weekly basis and how it saved me. I’m still working hard to keep from inching up (some days are better than others) but most of my new habits have stuck with me - will hit my two year anniversary next month. I don’t report much now because there is very little change. As an inspiration, in the last two days both my neighbor and my dentist mentioned how good I look. Of course they both met me as overweight to obese; they never saw me pre-baby (he’s 25 years old) when I really did look good. (I’m still about 20 pounds over my ideal weight but would be satisfied to stay like this.)</p>
<p>Don’t get hung up on how long you spend exercising; every little bit helps. There have been studies that show even people who fidget lose more weight than those who don’t.</p>
<p>Thank you Marilyn for your words. I am back from a 20 minute walk. I was thinking that 20 minutes isn’t much but you reminded me that it is something.
I know I will never get back to 115 lbs but I know that I can get to 140 and look and feel pretty healthy.</p>
<p>And I did 2 miles on the treadmill at a pathetic pace, but it’s still 2 miles! Add 20 wall pushups, a salad for lunch (no dressing, balsamic vinegar, romaine, dill, a little feta, and grilled chicken breast and some homemade pizza (about equivalent of one large slice) with part-skim ricotta, sauteed onions and mushrooms and a sprinkle of pistachios. Tomorrow is a gym day if my D doesn’t need to go to the eye doctor. She returned from 2 months in Thailand and Hong Kong and now has a horribly bloodshot eye with blurry vision. Hope she didn’t catch something over there. Back to our regularly scheduled tag…and lilac - all good points. Problem for me is those are things I’ve done on a regular basis for the last 20 years, but hitting 50 was like hitting a wall. None of the usual techniques are working for the 20 pounds I need to lose. Actually, at this point I’d settle for 10 and will be happy .5 at a time.</p>
<p>Runnersmom - if you think hitting 50 is like hitting a wall, you are just gonna LOVE hitting 60!!!</p>
<p>Seriously, I was fine until I hit menopause. My eating habits have gotten progressively better over the last 30 years, but once the big M arrived, I needed to be even more careful. </p>
<p>Today - morning smoothie with soy milk, banana, unsweetened cocoa, and a handful of frozen blueberries. Same thing every morning - although if I have frozen sweet cherries I use those instead. </p>
<p>Lunch - Egg over easy made on non-stick pan, no butter or oil. Small salad, no dressing. Five saltines. </p>
<p>Dinner - Black beans with salsa, mango, avocado, and brown rice.</p>
<p>Lots of water. A glass of red wine at dinner. </p>
<p>Great tips, Lilacbutterfly. You sound like my husband. Here’s the one that always trips me up:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I never feel full. My husband does. Easily. He’s always saying “oh i’m so full.” I never am. He also hates taking home leftovers. I hate leaving them behind haha.</p>
<p>So it’s a struggle for me. I always crave seconds, thirds, and dessert…even when I’ve eaten a ton of food. He never does.</p>
<p>So it’s a person by person thing. Is it chemical? Psychological? I don’t know.</p>
<p>That said, I’ve managed to lose 24 pounds in the last 5 months. I just decided to try to eat like my husband does. Of course, I am always hungry. He never is. </p>
<p>I’m not complaining. I like being able to shop for size 6 jeans now, but it’s a struggle. Everyone has their own unique struggle and hunger is mine in spite of cutting out sugar and carbs (which has helped but not “cured” me). ;)</p>
<p>And so the day begins! My stiff neck has not resolved, so I postponed my trainer for a couple of days. I will try to get on the treadmill though and get in a couple of miles. Made blueberry/banana smoothies for breakfast. I don’t know why I never tried these before - so easy and packed with nutrients. I haven’t tried adding protein powder, but I do use fat free greek yogurt and skim milk, so at least there’s some dairy protein. Thursday’s are tough for me because we have a partners’ meeting for my business and the host partner makes lunch. I will remember all of you waiting to hear my choices as I face what is likely an obstacle course of bread and great cheese! Have a great day all.</p>
<p>An observation from someone (me) who has participated in this thread in the past:</p>
<p>Sounds like many of you are not enjoying or being confident in your exercise! I want to say “exercise routine” but it won’t be that until you keep up a streak that you feel good about - and if you develop a routine, chances are you WILL feel good about it!</p>
<p>Don’t postpone exercise. Don’t TRY to get it in. Don’t say your pace is pathetic. </p>
<p>If one type of exercise is not good for today, pick another - but do it. (and feel accomplished afterwards!)</p>
<p>Give up something else to make exercise happen in your day - 1/2 hour of something - watch 1/2 hour less tv, spend 1/2 hour less on the computer, pick up a $4.99 rotisserie chicken and a bag of frozen vegetables at the grocery store so you don’t have to spend time making dinner (and feel accomplished afterwards!).</p>
<p>Don’t worry about if your pace is pathetic in the world of exercise, decide if it is pathetic for YOU. If it is, how can you change that? Do less mileage, but increase the pace? Or, is the mileage more important than the pace? The only ones in competition here is you and your mind and you and the mirror. Set yourself up for success.</p>
<p>Finally, log your activity. Your own secret (or not secret) place you keep a log of what you have accomplished - a journal of sorts that takes 30 secs or less to record in. Make a promise to keep it for a month. You will feel GREAT to know that that 1.5 mile walk several times a week turns into 30 miles a month - that’s 360 miles a year - that’s a long way!</p>
<p>A great quote I saw at my exercise facility:</p>
<p>“Wow, I really regret that workout” - said no one ever.</p>
<p>Love your post, abasket. My pace seems just fine to me – until I start to compare it to my kids. Then it seems, well, um, pathetic . . . but who cares? If I feel that I exert myself a bit, its good, no matter how much faster the kids are making it around the lake. I like the Spark People streak idea – 10 min (at least) of something everyday, see how long you can keep the streak going. What happens is that 10 min usually leads to more than 10 min. But if it doesn’t sometimes, that’s okay too. It’s still 10 min. more than doing nada. And it starts momentum going in a different direction. I have an appt. at the gym today, so I know I will get it done today, even though I’m feelin lazy . . . Love the quote. Gonna try to remember that one!</p>
<p>Great post Abasket! One I heartily agree with! </p>
<p>If you have a smart phone it’s a great place to log your workouts and be honest with yourself. Map my walk is great and so is fitness pal. </p>
<p>Struggling to get out myself. It rained all day yesterday and still is raining. But have plans to walk with friends later. </p>
<p>Another thing I do is get ready for my workout. Put on your exercise clothes. If I’m dressed its easier to shame myself to go. Especially my sports bra. Then it’s serious and not just lounging in my yoga pants. I also try to keep a few things that I just exercise in. Then I know I’m serious.</p>
<p>runnersmom - the frozen sweet cherries with cocoa are amazing. I also throw in two ice cubes. For years I chopped up the bananas and froze them - that made the smoothie so thick and yummy - but one morning I heard a terrible sound and the tip of the blade was broken. No more frozen bananas for me. I might try with a VitaMix or something similar, but until I buy one of those I am not using them with the Waring. </p>
<p>i am going hard core for three weeks. Keeping a tiny spiral notepad to record ALL my food. I realized when I got braces how much snacking I do. Everything is pretty healthy - but calories nonetheless. When I was brushing every time I ate I stopped snacking and quickly dropped pounds. </p>
<p>Good walk this morning. I was going to skip it because I was short on time - but in the spirit of this thread I got in three miles. </p>
<p>We are going to be SMOKIN’ hot by the middle of summer!!!</p>
<p>It feels even better to be “lazy” after you’ve completed a good workout! :)</p>
<p>My funny story about pace/pathetic/your kids.</p>
<p>My exercise committment started Sept. 13 with the C25K app to learn how to run. I am 53 and have NEVER been a runner/jogger, but have always admired people who did. Goal was to complete a 5K. Completed the C25K (at my own pace, at my own satisfaction level) Dec. 31st. My first 5K was March 10. Part of my goal was to run a 5K with my 20 year old son. It happened that he could be home for this race. I told him that I was S-L-O-W and that if he wanted at any point to run on ahead to feel free to do so (for some reason I pictured that he would just run along with me - haha). That race gun went off and BOOM! - he was GONE!!! He got caught up in the excitement and adrenaline of the race and left my side at the get-go!!! BUT, I mentally told myself to not worry about one other person but myself finishing that race. He finished so quickly he probably took a nap between when he finished and when I got in but was there at the finish line rooting for me - the time I finished didn’t matter - what mattered and what was life changing was the commitment I made to MYSELF. </p>
<p>Feeling in control of my fitness, my eating, my physical well being has been life changing. It doesn’t mean I’m perfect or an athlete or a nutrition freak, but that I have the power, energy and control of my choices to keep myself in check and feeling good.</p>
<p>Congratulations, abasket, you must have felt great when you finished that race! Meeting one’s own personal goals is really the best. Your advice is great.</p>
<p>I’ve never liked exercise, especially workouts, running, or anything else that’s considered “serious” exercise. As many of you know, my entire routine if you can call it that is to do 20 minutes of aerobics on the Wii Fit every morning. It obviously isn’t meant to burn calories. I do it for the aerobic benefits - to increase stamina, and to help my body more efficiently process insulin. Per my doctor last fall, I officially dropped from diabetes II to pre-diabetes stats. And I now know I won’t have to curtail walks or short hikes or staircases - I used to get out of breath a lot; doesn’t happen anymore.</p>
<p>So start exercise as slow as you like and keep adding until you reach a level that’s achievable on a long term basis. If you’re always saying “I can’t run today because…” or “I can’t get to the gym today because…”, then your choice of exercise is not the one that will work for you. Personally I know I would always find a reason not to leave the house so I had to figure out something I could do at home. And without shoes (I exercise in socks) because I have some foot issues that manifest more in shoes no matter how comfortable.</p>
<p>S1 gave me a Garmin watch for Christmas. I have really enjoyed using it when walking or running. I get a ton of satifaction seeing how many calories were burned during exercise. The Garmin comes w/ a cord to connect to the Garmin website where you can download each walk /run/hike/bike whatever activity. Tells you distance, times for each mile,calories burned,elevation gain/loss. It’s a great toy…simple to use…would highly recommend.</p>
<p>Some of the apps (I use RunKeeper - it is not just for running, can be used for walking as well and other exercise) do this same thing. It gives me an update every 5 minutes “10 mins., .85 miles, pace, 12:30…” and also tallies up calories burned (these are approximate). You can also have it play one of your music playlists at the same time.</p>